Gaps
by kazumigirl
Summary: Double D is going into the eighth grade with braces! Eddy won't stop insulting him, but is he doing it to be mean, to just be irritating, or something else? And are there more gaps involved than the gap in Double D's teeth? R&R please


Gaps

Author's note: Same old, same old. I don't own the series, nor do I claim to.

There was a gap in his teeth. After the agonizing years of braces, of course, it had filled, but there would always be photographs. And photographs never changed. In a way it was good. If the photos had never changed, then there would always be a big gap in his two front teeth, and though it looked cute on a twelve-year old, it was kind of awkward on a grown man. On the other hand, if photographs stayed the same, then friendships would last forever. They'd never fall apart. Nobody would branch out in high school. Nobody would go to colleges hundreds of miles apart. Nobody would be left wondering _what if_? Nobody would be left communicating in emails and an extremely brief telephone conversations.

It was the beginning of the eighth grade when Double D got his braces. Of course, they had to start off as braces with those annoying brightly colored bands. Luckily they weren't like Jimmy's. They were uncomfortable, but not just physically. Double D had never thought much about his teeth until they were nicely restrained in metal. Now, starting school again, he was terribly self-conscious, and his friend's teasing didn't help. Of course, Ed made one comment-a comment that wasn't even all that negative- and that was that. He'd got one look at them and then completely forgotten they were even there. Eddy, however, decided that Double D's braces would never get old and continuously made cracks about them, and the name calling went from anything to "Brace-face" to "Tinsel-teeth".

It was the first day of the new school year, and Double D had just spent twenty minutes in front of the mirror, practicing methods of talking and smiling without showing a lot of his teeth. It wouldn't be easy. Had he always had such a large, toothy mouth? He was suddenly interrupted when Eddy stuck his head through Double D's window. He knew it was broken, and b/c of his friend's parents' busy schedule, it would probably never get fixed.

"Hey fence-face," he scoffed, "ready for school? Buhahaahahahahh!" He sighed and wiped a tear from his eye. "I kill me."

Double D turned somewhat red and tried his best to remain mature about the whole situation. "You know, Eddy. Jokes like that get old quite fast, and they're only funny if everyone's laughing."

Eddy sarcastically glanced around the room. "I'd say _everyone's_ laughing."

Double D sighed, clamped his mouth shut, and grabbed his book bag. He met Eddy and Ed outside and they started off to school. As they did so, Eddy eventually forgot about humiliating his friend and the conversation turned over to other things like jaw-breakers and video games. As they did so, Kevin suddenly spun by, whizzing around on his bike, circling them. Ed smiled, Double D shifted awkwardly, and Eddy grunted.

"Move out of the way, Kevin," he ordered, trying to maneuver past the ginger-kid (yes, we all know he is one).

"Double Dork's mom told my mom that her son has braces," he commented. "but I guess she was lying b/c you don't look anything like Jimmy."

"Double D is wearing a rainbow in his mouth!" Ed exclaimed. "It is like playing a musical instrument when he brushes his teeth…or at least that is what Eddy says."

Kevin laughed. "Whatever. It's not like it's a big deal or anything." He stopped pedaling and leaned into Double D's face. "Can I see 'em?"

Double D shrugged and nervously showed his teeth. Kevin said, "Whatever. See you at school, Dorks."

When he left, Eddy grunted and remarked, "That was weird."

"So, I guess my dental bands aren't so bad after all?" Double D brightened a little. "I mean, if Kevin approved of them and-"

Eddy just grabbed him by his hat and said, "C'mon, Sock head. You'll have a hernia if you're tardy."

In speech class, the only class Eddy had with Double D b/c he was in regular classes and Double D was in advanced, Eddy continuously glanced over to Double D at his right. Even though it was only speech class, and as long as you showed up you'd pass, he was carefully and very tediously taking notes in a labeled spiral. He labeled everything. His life was so neat and organize it drove Eddy crazy. How much fun could you have if you planned _everything_? He sighed and drummed his fingers against the desktop, ready for class to be over with already, and it had only just started. As the teacher-who sounded a lot like Ben Stein- droned on and on about things that neither he nor the students particularly cared about, Eddy's mind traveled elsewhere. He thought about the summer, and how he and his two best friends would stay out all day until it would be too dark to see. Even when it was raining, they'd watch Monster movies at Ed's house. When Ed took a vacation with his family to the beach for two weeks, Eddy had nearly gone crazy. All he had was Double D, and without Ed, Double D was kind of a drip. Or so Eddy assumed. He actually turned out to be pretty cool to hang around with. Of course he was still careful and neat, but Eddy soon learned that he could also crack jokes, stick his tongue out at insults, and even burp after he'd downed a soda. Eddy liked that. He knew that he'd always liked Double D for his willingness to do anything stupid-when he was so smart- and he liked him for his paternal nature, which was so strange for one to possess when their parents were always too busy to even have dinner with them.

For as long as Eddy could remember, Double D had always dined with Eddy and his mother or Ed and his parents. They all adored him b/c he was polite and well-mannered. It was funny how Eddy was the only one that found his rare slip-ups a treat.

Now he sighed even louder and put his head on his desk. He peeked out just a crack and smiled when he saw Double D leaning far back in his chair, slumped to the max, and blowing his pencil. He'd blow, let it roll to the top of his desk, and watch it glide back down. He heard Eddy chuckle and immediately sat up, grinning nervously. Eddy rolled his eyes, leaned across the aisle, and wrote _This class blows_ on Double D's desk. He expected a sour face, even a finger-wag from his friend, but Double D looked at it, and carefully wrote in tiny handwriting underneath _Agreed_.


End file.
